


Concerning the Constellations

by Kalcite



Series: Kalcite's Fictober 2020 [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26855452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalcite/pseuds/Kalcite
Summary: Orion takes the first step to becoming the last of the overseers.(Fictober prompt day 2: That's the easy part.)
Series: Kalcite's Fictober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957660
Kudos: 1





	Concerning the Constellations

Orion didn’t like taking days off. She liked to keep herself occupied, whether it was helping the elders walk the steps or simply listening to them speak of the bustling city she’d not been able to experience herself. It was how she’d been able to cope with their isolation from the rest of the world, never allowing herself a moment to think over the half-century since they’d been sealed inside.

Unfortunately, the elders didn’t think that was healthy for her and had all but forced her to take a break for a few days. It was the third day and Orion had contented herself to sitting below the observatory’s aperture and staring up at the night sky. As a neophyte, there was still much for her to learn but even then, she enjoyed watching the stars. On days of particular boredom, she would lift a hand and trace out the constellations with her finger, using just a dash of magic to leave faint lines trailing in its wake. She was part of the way through the complex weave of stars that marked the Dragon when footsteps tapped against the smooth stone behind her.

She quickly scrambled to her feet, dropping into a hasty but still respectful curtsy. “Good evening, Overseer Vega. Am I permitted to return to work yet?”

“No, not yet,” Overseer Vega said, chuckling dryly. “I’ve actually got something to show you. Sit with me.” She gestured to a petrawood bench off to the side of the central plaza. “And loosen up, girl. I keep telling you, there’s no need for formality anymore.”

“Oh, overseer, I could never-”

“Orion, please.”

The younger drow hesitated for a moment. “...Yes, Miss Vega.”

“I suppose that will have to do,” the elder sighed, a fond smile on her lips.

With the two of them seated, she pulled a small, wooden box from deep within her robes. The box was cylindrical and ornately detailed with the carvings showing careful recreations of the constellations their observatory had spent centuries mapping out. Though Orion had never opened one of those boxes, she knew exactly what was held inside.

“The star maps?”

“Yes,” Vega said, the smile sliding off her face. “Orion, you know that many of us are not much longer for this world. We’ve decided to teach you how to open and control the observatory defenses, as well as how to use the star maps themselves.”

“Overseer, no! I’m nowhere near ready enough to learn them. I’m not even old enough!”

A bitter laugh spilt from the old drow’s lips. “Child, does it really seem as though age matters to us any longer? You are the only one left beyond us elders. If we do not teach you now, then the observatory’s teachings could be lost forever. Now come, let me show you how these work.”

Orion shook her head, not out of a refusal to learn but at how she wanted to deny what Vega was saying. But even then, she could not bear to speak the words. She knew that she was telling the truth. It had been just last month that they’d lost Overseer Altair to old age. Time was running out.

And deep down, Orion felt excited. She was learning how to use the star maps! Ordinarily, she would have had to wait until she was at least five centuries old to even begin to learn how they worked. The anticipation, guilt and despair swirled together in her gut and left her nauseous even as she tried to focus on what the elder was showing her.

She watched as the elder started the process of assembling the star maps. They came in the form of several discs of clear quartz, of so high a quality that they almost looked like glass. Engraved into their surfaces were the various constellations, leaving a total of 36 discs. They could each be slotted into the metal apparatus, the frame being able to hold at three discs at once.

“This is why we teach you the stars so young,” Vega had explained. “Without a proper understanding of the constellations and how they relate to where we stand, the maps are simply a pretty trinket. But with the correct knowledge, you can use them to navigate even the most difficult parts of the world and even begin to parse the threads that weave our futures together.”

After showing her how the mechanisms worked, Vega handed the box over to Orion. It took a few tries, but she finally managed to slot in three maps - the Archer, the Chalice and the Dragon. Formality slipped away for a moment as she felt her excitement bubble over. Turning to the elder, she couldn’t help the grin that found its way onto her face.

“I did it!”

“Well, you picked it up a lot faster than most people. However, that’s the easy part. Now you’ve got to learn how to channel your magic through it. Here, we’ll start with a simple meditation…”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay listen, I wrote lore for this character for four hours, then spent another two hours drawing a reference sheet for her. And then? She died in the first session. I am ABSOLUTELY going to reuse her for another campaign, I love Orion so much ;-;


End file.
